GET LEAN: What my low-carb diet results actually looked like

I've tried my fair share of weird weight-loss strategies in my life like most people. I have never been super over weight but always want to look leaner especially when it’s bikini season. I dislike yo yo dieting and artificial chemical oriented diets none of which I wind up maintaining long-term because of the crazy restrictions. But 4 month ago knowing that I was turning 47 and had to do a photo shoot in my bikini I decided to follow theBeach Body with Lucy programmeand the30 Day Get Lean Diet stylefor myself, to see what kind of results I could get.

So, armed with no further restrictions than capping my carbs and eating green vegetables and proteins, I kicked off two full weeks on the diet. Here's what I learned and what my total low-carb diet results looked like.

MEAL PREP IS HELPFUL, BUT NOT TOTALLY NECESSARY

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge advocate of meal prepping. And planning my low-carb meals ahead of time made sense since I wanted to reduce temptation. However, when I got tired of my meals by day three and checked out the menus of a few restaurants online, I was pleasantly surprised to find it's easy to eat out on the low-carb diet. As a rule of thumb, I stuck to grabbing food from places I could accurately record the nutrition of my meal. And if that wasn't available, I'd use my best judgement to order as low-carb as possible. (Read: No bun or fries with my burger, please.)

YOU'LL START SEEING RESULTS QUICKLY.

Even though I was only committed to this diet for two weeks, I couldn't help but weigh myself after my first week. I wasn't feeling hungry or deprived, so I worried that I was doing something wrong. Despite my concerns I'd dropped 1.8 pounds after one week on the diet. After my second week, I'd lost 5 pounds and started to notice my frame thin out a bit.

I chose not to drink alcohol throughout. It’s a personal choice due to directly connecting my anxieties to alcohol consumption. However gin and soda would be the best drink to have on the diet. Needless to say, I think this is a plan I could happily stick with and I have been able to maintain till now.